Charlotte Ann Parks, 87, of Hill City, Kansas, passed away at the Graham County Hospital, Sunday, January 8, 2023. She was born June 28, 1935, in Graham County to Chester H. and Lola M. (Clinton) Baldwin. She was the second of four daughters. Their family moved from Hill City in 1941 to McPherson, Kansas, later to Plainville and then back to Hill City in 1951, where Charlotte began her junior year at Hill City Memorial High School. Charlotte graduated May 22, 1953. As a young woman, she met a young man with a fancy car named Albert Parks. They fell in love and on Charlotte’s 18th birthday, the couple was married at the Hill City Methodist Church. To this union four children were born: Dirk, Terry, Denise and Sheila.
The first word that
comes to mind when you think of Charlotte is “Classy”. She always took
great pride in her appearance: her hair, her clothing, her home. That
was Charlotte. Perhaps that was why being a Fashion 220 Makeup
Consultant appealed to her. She enjoyed having those parties and making
everyone feel special and beautiful.
In June of 1971, Charlotte began as secretary for Hill City High School. This was when her children were teenagers in high school, which meant she knew just exactly what they were doing or not doing. When she left her secretary job with the school, she joined the Consolidated State Bank in 1975. Starting as a bookkeeper, she was promoted several times. When she retired, she had attained Assistant Vice-President.
Charlotte was a member of the Methodist Church from 1951 until her death. She was baptized at the Plainville Methodist Church at the age of 12. Her faith was a very important part of who she was. Never one for being a spectator, she jumped right into Parish activities. She had a beautiful voice and loved singing in the choir and directed the children’s choir. She rarely missed Adult Sunday School or a Mary Martha Circle meeting, and as a member over 85, she became a UMW Glorious Golden Woman. She also belonged to many clubs such as Helianthus, Wine-n-Dine, early morning walking group, coffee group and a birthday lunch gathering.
If
you needed a hostess, Charlotte was your “Go to Woman”. She hosted
church caroling parties, bank parties at their cabin at Webster Lake,
and when they moved to Walnut Drive, she began hosting Neighborhood
Block Parties. If you were at one of these parties, you were in for a
wonderful time!
Due to Albert’s contract pumper service, the couple couldn’t get away for long vacations, so they purchased a cabin at Webster Lake. Charlotte and Albert spent many hours of enjoyment together. Family and friends were always welcome. Charlotte was an excellent slalom water skier. They both enjoyed skiing and teaching their guests to ski.
Charlotte was a precise and flawless seamstress. She sewed clothing for her children and later her grandchildren. In later years, her love for sewing opened up a whole new world of quilting. With her daughter Denise and daughter-in-law Donna, she was always anxious to head to Hays to the Block of the Month Club. Charlotte, with her friends Dorothy Sedivey and Rose Luck, was always interested in learning new techniques at quilting classes. She was also a charter member of a group of seamstresses in Hill City called the Stitching Sisters.
Charlotte enjoyed many hours of
playing and teaching bridge. She began playing in 1961 and in 2011 most
of the founding members celebrated 50 years of friendship and bridge
games. With groups of friends, she loved the trips to Abilene and
Encore shows at FHSU for music productions and performances.
Albert and Charlotte had plans to travel after retirement, but Albert died before they got to fulfill all their plans. The trip of a lifetime for her was the trip with Donna Schmidtberger and Dorothy Sedivey to Australia and New Zealand.
Christmas with family was
made very special. She loved to help the grandkids put on a play for
their parents. Family always came first, and we all felt her love. We
were so blessed. And we will always think of her cheering on the KU
Basketball team and the Kansas City Chiefs. She enjoyed watching both
even though they raised her blood pressure at times.
Charlotte was preceded in death by her parents, Chet and Lola Baldwin; husband Albert; sisters: Phyllis Stevenson and Mavis Baldwin; son-in-law Mike Jones; brothers-in-law: Gordon Tangen and Steve Stevenson; nephews: Terry Clinton Ripper and Daniel Tangen.
Left to cherish her memory and legacy of love are her children: Dirk and wife Nancy, and Terry and wife Donna, all of Hill City, Denise Jones of Oberlin, Sheila Parks of Hill City; 11 grandchildren; 27 great grandchildren; her only surviving sister, Mary Tangen of Billingham, Washington; many nieces, nephews, and dear friends.
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